Description
Rebel starts the southern highbush season early, with large berries, vigorous growth, and a useful ability to handle heavy Piedmont-type ground as long as the soil still drains.
It flowers and ripens about a week before Suziblue and needs roughly 400 to 450 hours of winter chill, the cold spell it needs before it will break bud. That head start is valuable in long, mild seasons, while gardens that still see spring frost need to protect the earlier bloom.
The berries are mild rather than richly flavored, so Rebel’s case is earliness, size, a clean picking scar, and site fit. It is moderately self-fertile, and planting it with Suziblue improves fruit set while extending the picking season.
Overview
- Very early southern highbush, flowering and ripening about a week before Suziblue.
- Large, firm berries with a small, dry picking scar.
- Mild flavor with excellent texture.
- Very vigorous, spreading growth to roughly 4 to 5 ft.
- Moderately self-fertile; a partner improves fruit set.
- Handles heavy Piedmont-type soil better than most southern highbush, provided it drains.
Growing Details
Latin Name: Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Rebel’, a southern highbush hybrid
Site and Soil: Full sun; freely draining acidic soil at pH 4.5 to 5.5
Hardiness: A mild-winter southern highbush; protect from hard winter cold and late frost on the early bloom
Chill Requirement: Approximately 400 to 450 hours of winter chill
Size at Maturity: Approximately 4 to 5 ft, vigorous and spreading
Bloom Time: Very early, about a week before Suziblue
Ripening Time: Very early for a southern highbush, about a week before Suziblue
Fruit: Large, firm berries with mild flavor, excellent texture, and a small dry scar
Yield: Precocious and high yielding; young plants have produced about 3 to 4 lb in irrigated bark beds
Pollination: Moderately self-fertile; plant with another southern highbush such as Suziblue for better fruit set
Propagation: Grown on its own roots from cuttings
Pests & Diseases: Stem blight follows stress; prevent waterlogging and overcropping
Additional Notes
- Grower’s Insight: Rebel leafs out during and just after flowering, helping the bush support its early crop better than southern highbush types that bloom on nearly bare wood.
- Regional Insight: The early bloom pays in the Deep South and mild Gulf regions, while gardens on the northern edge of southern highbush country need frost protection during flowering.
- Explore more blueberries in the collection: Blueberries
